Hello all! This is my first post so please don't judge

I wanted to ask for some help regarding my cars health conditions, I've been reading a lot on the forums for the last couple of weeks trying to figure out my problems but cant, so I'm just going to ask the people who know best. For the last couple of weeks I've been trying to find out if my car has head gasket failure, it overheats almost every time I drive it along with not getting any heat to the cabin until driven in high RPM for a period of time. along with that last week I pulled codes and discovered I'm misfiring in cylinder 1,2 and 3 with a temp range code. And yes before you ask I've tried bleeding the system about 3 times now with no success on getting heat to the cabin.

If anyone has any insight or will to help me confirm my suspicions, that would be great.

 

Well....probably stop using it at high RPM.

A compression and leakdown test will tell you for sure about the head gasket.

 

No heat is typically 'cuz your cooling system is full of air -- your bleed isn't working. Are you using the Leslie funnel, squeezing the big hoses (they should be hot so be careful), and opening the little bleed valves on the block or firewall (I forget what they're called)?

-- Chuck

 

You have air in cooling system. Stop driving it until fixed. It may already be too late. Overheating may have damaged engine.

At best head gasket. But warped head highly possible.

All because you drove it with air in coolant.

There aren't many things that will quickly wreak these engines.

Low on oil, or low on coolant at top of list. ESPECIALLY if you run it up near redline while these issues exist.

 

Thanks for the tips ect!

Okay, so this is currently where I stand with the car. I replaced the thermostat with a mishimoto one, thinking it would help keep temp down. I replaced it all and did a flush/bleed leaving me with heat actually coming into the cabin, but now my temp gauge is only reading 1-2 Blocks on the cluster. ( Not sure if that's just the Mishimoto thermo doing its job the way its intended?) But the kicker here is my VTEC is now not working, doesn't kick on even after high load and I guess I redline at 7K RPM...? ( I checked the oil and everything seems to be fine, i topped it off just to be sure but no change.) I also now idle at 1300 RPM regardless of how long I warm it up and or drive the car.

Please help my dumb a$$, this ones been tricky.

 

Did getting heat in the cabin just happen since Wednesday?

You're getting heat and the engine is still cold? (2 bars is cold on an AP1 engine and almost stone cold in the AP2).

Running a "cold" thermostat will not let the car get to operating temperature and VTEC will not engage unless the engine is at operating temperature.

Solution seems to be to fit the proper OEM thermostat which should be available at ANY Honda/Acura dealer as it fits several cars.

-- Chuck

 

Yes, the vents are actually getting heat this time around which is fantastic, its not exactly scorching hot, but its there and persistent. I had read some other forums stating that VTEC would engage regardless of temp, but i guess its different in s2k's. Also not sure if the idle problem is related or a vacuum leak I caused on the replacement.

 

Heat should be scorching. Wrong thermostat is not helping. Avoid "other forums." The S2000 has some unique requirements.

-- Chuck

 

?

lol is this a for real thing here or are we being trolled?

Why did you use a Mishimoto thermostat?

I would go back to a factory thermostat. The car isn't designed to overheat. So why would you use an aftermarket part to fix an issue that isn't supposed to happen? What sense does that make?

Bleed the coolant properly with a stock thermostat from Honda. Buy the coolant from Honda as well. Word of advice....most aftermarket parts are nowhere near as good as a factory part. If you want to fix your car, don't use aftermarket.

If you want to check for a blown head gasket, then do a leakdown test. See if the pressurized air in the cylinders is leaking into the cooling system.

We suggested all this already. You haven't done any of it. I am not sure what additional help you want...

No other Honda engages the 3rd cam lobe (VTEC) regardless of temp. Whomever told you that is wrong asf. Why would it? Your car isn't getting up to temp. VTEC isn't engaging. Just like any other Honda. No mystery. I wouldn't let that bog you down from actually looking for a solution.

You're also wondering why your car is idling high but never getting up to temp. ???

Your car is idling high because its not getting to temp. Why is this a mystery?

You bought a cold thermostat (look at the description of what you bought). Its going to prevent the car from getting to temp. Not sure where you're located, but there's a chance its winter. And you're blasting the heat. So...given all of that...why would the car warm up and maintain temp?